Most popular in certain Asian cuisines but gaining popularity in other forms of cooking for its flavor and tenderness (if properly prepared), flank steak is a very lean and boneless cut of beef that is known to be quite tasty. Flank steak is best when served marinated and broiled and is most tender when it has been cut against the grain.

Flank steak is not an exotic or hard to find cut of meat and no special trip to the butcher shop will be required if you want to have a flank steak dinner. You can get flank steak at the grocery store, usually prepackaged and ready to broil.

Preparing Flank Steak

Flank steak comes from a part of the animal that gets a lot of exercise. As such flank stead is a naturally tough cut of meat. Flank steak tenderizes nicely, however, when flank steak is marinated for a good period of time (usually eight hours or more) and then grilled or broiled. Flank steak becomes especially tender when, as mentioned above, cut against the grain but also when acidic tenderizers such as wine, sherry, vinegar, lemon juice, and the like are used in the marinade.

In addition to broiling and grilling, flank steak can be baked, braised, or prepared in most of the same ways that any other cuts may be fixed. One particularly enjoyable method of flank steak preparation is the “stuff & bake” method. Stuffing (which can be almost anything from breads or vegetables to certain types of fruit) is “rolled” into the flank steak and it is then tied and baked. Absolutely delicious!

Finding Flank Steak Recipes

Of course if you have a favorite cooking related website you will probably be able to find more than a few good flank steak recipes there. If you want to look further – perhaps to the printed page – there are several good cookbooks that either have recipes on or are devoted to flank steak preparation.

The Great Steak Book by Grady Spears has some wonderful entries on flank steak, as does the Beat That! Cookbook by Ann Hodgman. Either is an excellent choice for someone looking to prepare flank steak for the first time or the old pro who just wants a different flank steak recipe. For Everything You've Ever Wanted To Know About Killer BBQ, Including Closely Guarded Secrets Of Competition-Level Barbecuers,Click Here